Service agreements: why they are necessary and what they should cover

If you are a service provider of any kind, regulating your engagement with your customers is crucial to show potential investors how you have secured your revenue stream and managed your risk. Investors are going to be interested in how you protect your revenue stream. They will typically assess how “water-tight” your agreements are with your clients in order to determine business level risk.

A service agreement is an example of a revenue contract. This is the agreement that describes how your company generates revenue in return for delivering services and describes the fees which you charge.

Some key considerations for a service agreement are as follows:

Description of your services:

It is important to accurately describe your services so there is clarity and certainty regarding what it is your customers are paying for. It can sometimes work well to describe the services by referring to your website which then provides for a full description of the services in greater detail. This has the advantage of allowing you to evolve your services over time, and change the specific terms and pricing on your website (on notice to the client).

Duration of the agreement:

How long do you expect the service agreement to be in place? Depending on the nature of the services rendered, it may be for a specific period or ongoing. Whether the contract can be renewed and on what terms should also be carefully considered together with termination rights. You will want to ideally strike a balance between easily terminating the relationship when it no longer suits you while still attracting and maintaining a constant revenue stream without too much unexpected disruption.

Risk provisions:

You should consider what warranties you are willing to make with respect to the quality or outcome of your services. This will be specific to your service offering but you should also consider the industry in which you operate and what your average client would expect. Your appetite for risk and the level of risk associated with your services should also determine what warranties will be offered. Another related consideration is what your liability to your clients should be, whether you will have any liability at all and how you manage this.

The other considerations which we discuss with our clients for the purposes of drafting their service agreements include service levels, payment terms, exclusivity, IP and license arrangements, data and privacy matters and whether there are any specific regulatory aspects applicable.

We provide a Service Agreement Package to start-ups and through this process we are able to prepare bespoke service agreements applicable and appropriate for each client. We can also assist with reviewing and updating existing service agreements, if you are not sure whether your existing contract is up to scratch.